Winston Churchill Quotes on Democracy, The Arts, and Leadership

Looking for famous Winston Churchill quotes that have stood the test of time?

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was an important figure of his time. Through his assistance and leadership, the Allied forces, together with the U.S. and the Soviet Union, gained victory against the Axis powers during WWII.

A beloved statesman and writer, he was also a key individual in crafting post-war peace.

Independent, strategic, and strong, his ideals remain invaluable to this day. Like many successful and historic figures, his life was not without obstacles.

Who would believe that during his early years, he in fact, performed poorly in school? It took him three tries before getting into the British Royal Military College.

His mother rarely saw him at that time as well. His father, seldom present and someone he knew only through reputation, died when Churchill was only 21.

We can glean a bit of wisdom from his life as a well-known statesman and writer. Whether you’re after success, are fighting for change, or you simply need a bit of motivation, here are some of the best Winston Churchill quotes for you.

The Greatest Winston Churchill Quotes on Democracy and Leadership

1.) “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Winston S. Churchill

2.) “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” ― Winston S. Churchill

3.) “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” ― Winston S. Churchill

4.) “Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.” ― Winston S. Churchill

5.) “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Winston S. Churchill

6.) “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.” ― Winston S. Churchill

7.) “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” ― Winston S. Churchill

8.) “Personally, I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” ― Winston S. Churchill

9.) “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” ― Winston S. Churchill

10.) “The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.” ― Winston S. Churchill

11.) “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” ― Winston S. Churchill

12.) “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” ― Winston S. Churchill

13.) “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” ― Winston S. Churchill

14.) “To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.” ― Winston S. Churchill

15.) “We are all worms, But I do believe that I am a glow worm.” ― Winston S. Churchill, ‘Never Give In! The Best of Winston Churchill’s Speeches’

16.) “We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.” ― Winston S. Churchill

17.) “Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.” ― Winston S. Churchill

18.) “We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.” ― Winston S. Churchill

19.) “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” ― Winston S. Churchill

20.) “You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.” ― Winston S. Churchill

Winston Churchill Quotes on Never Giving Up

21.) “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.” ― Winston S. Churchill

22.) “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ― Winston S. Churchill

23.) “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ― Winston S. Churchill

24.) “If you are going through hell, keep going.” ― Winston S. Churchill

25.) “Never, never, never give in!” ― Winston S. Churchill

Famous Winston Churchill Quotes

26.) “It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.” ― Winston S. Churchill

27.) “Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.” ― Winston S. Churchill

28.) Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” ― Winston S. Churchill, ‘Never Give In! The Best of Winston Churchill’s Speeches’

29.) “For myself I am an optimist – it does not seem to be much use to be anything else.” ― Winston S. Churchill

30.) “Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” ― Winston S. Churchill

31.) “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” ― Winston S. Churchill, ‘Alone: The Second World War’ (Condensed) Series, Book 2

32.) “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” ― Winston S. Churchill

33.) “When you get a thing the way you want it, leave it alone.” ― Winston S. Churchill

34.) “Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.” ― Winston S. Churchill

35.) “Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.” ― Winston S. Churchill

Quotes by Winston Churchill about the Importance of the Arts

36.) “My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best.” ― Winston S. Churchill

37.) “Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public.” ― Winston S. Churchill

38.) “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” ― Winston S. Churchill

39.) “All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope” ― Winston S. Churchill

40.) “Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself, believe.” ― Winston S. Churchill

More Winston Churchill Quotes

41.) “If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.” ― Winston S. Churchill

42.) “It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.” ― Winston S. Churchill

43.) “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” ― Winston S. Churchill

44.) “There is no time for ease and comfort. It is the time to dare and endure.” ― Winston S. Churchill

45.) “You create your own universe as you go along.” ― Winston S. Churchill

46.) “This paper, by its very length, defends itself from ever being read.” ― Winston S. Churchill

47.) “You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. She was meant to be wooed and won by youth.” ― Winston S. Churchill, ‘My Early Life’, 1874-1904

48.) “Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all.” ― Winston S. Churchill, Never Give In! The Best of Winston Churchill’s Speeches

49.) “To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.” ― Winston S. Churchill

50.) “This is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end; this is just perhaps the end of the beginning.” ― Winston S. Churchill

Winston Churchill quotes to live by

51.) “We shall not fail or falter. We shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job.”― Winston S. Churchill

52.) “It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.”― Winston S. Churchill

53.) “Without a measureless and perpetual uncertainty, the drama of human life would be destroyed.”― Winston S. Churchill

54.) “If one has to submit, it is wasteful not to do so with the best grace possible.”― Winston S. Churchill

55.) “We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us.”― Winston S. Churchill

56.) “The most important thing about education is appetite.”
― Winston Churchill

57.) “Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.” ― Winston S. Churchill

58.) “There are a terrible lot of lies going around the world, and the worst of it is half of them are true.”― Winston S. Churchill

59.) “Eating words has never given me indigestion.” ― Winston Churchill

60.) “No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.” ― Winston S. Churchill

More Winston Churchill quotes to inspire you

61.) “There is only one duty, only one safe course, and that is to try to be right and not to fear to do or say what you believe to be right.”― Winston S. Churchill

62.) “It is wonderful what great strides can be made when there is a resolute purpose behind them.”― Winston S. Churchill

63.) “All the greatest things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honour; duty; mercy; hope.”― Winston S. Churchill

64.) “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, it’s also what it takes to sit down and listen.”― Winston S. Churchill

65.) “When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.”― Winston S. Churchill

66.) “It is no use saying ‘we are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.”― Winston S. Churchill

67.) “If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future. ” ― Winston Churchill

68.) “We have not journeyed all this way because we are made of sugar candy.” ― Winston S. Churchill

69.) “It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.” ― Winston S. Churchill

70.) “Do not let spacious plans for a new world divert your energies from saving what is left of the old.” ― Winston Churchill

Did you enjoy these Winston Churchill quotes?

Hopefully, you have found one or two of his wise words to inspire you. You don’t need to be statesman to fight for what is right: these battles are fought everyday. As long as you give your best and do what you believe is true, you are brave.

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